


For Only The Night Skies Will Know

by Talvenhenki



Series: S5E16 fills [2]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Angst, Autistic Julian Bashir, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s05e16 Doctor Bashir I Presume, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29470263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talvenhenki/pseuds/Talvenhenki
Summary: The secret is out, and Julian finds comfort within Garak's quarters.
Relationships: Julian Bashir/Elim Garak
Series: S5E16 fills [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2164677
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57





	For Only The Night Skies Will Know

**Author's Note:**

> Looks like I can't get enough of these two! Garak is a devious bastard and I love him to bits; he's very good at comforting our dear doctor.

Julian sighed. He had been on his way back to his quarters, but, somehow, he had found himself standing by Garak’s door. Garak had assured Julian that were Julian’s secret to get out, Julian could always find a job at Garak’s, mending trousers. Julian laughed. He didn’t even know how to mend trousers; the only thing he’d ever mended in his life had been Kukalaka. Dear, little Kukalaka. The teddy bear had been with Julian through thick and thin, having been the only one to accept him as himself.

Julian pressed the doorbell. There would be no going back now. Well, there had been no going back since his parents had spilled the secret.

The door slid open, revealing Garak. As soon as he saw Julian, his expression – slightly guarded, as usual – softened and a smile spread on his face. Not his usual, devious smile, but a real one. Julian didn’t know how he could tell them apart; he had never been too good at reading expressions, but somehow he just _knew_.

“Dear doctor!” Garak exclaimed. “How wonderful to see you again. I was beginning to fear that you’d grow bored of me, us having met so often in a short time.”

Julian shook his head. It would take a lot more than a few meetings in a short time to make him grow tired of Garak. At that moment, Garak was probably the only one who would know what to do.

“The secret got out”, Julian breathed. His voice was rough with all the emotion he was trying to keep inside.

Garak’s face fell. Placing his hand over Julian’s elbow, Garak led his friend inside the quarters. He sat Julian down on the seat by the large windows and wrapped a quilt over his shoulders. Then, Garak sat down, facing Julian, and studied his face intensely.

“Would you like anything to drink?” Garak asked softly. “Maybe some Tarkalean tea? Wasn’t that your drink of choice when we first met?”

Julian looked Garak deep in the eye. Instead of the usual deceptive look, there was something else that caught Julian’s eye. The look was soft, almost fond. Julian wondered if it had always been there; it somehow felt very un-Garak to have such a soft look.

“The tea would be nice.”

Smiling, Garak made his way to the replicator. Julian leaned his head on the cool glass of the window, trying to ground himself. Usually something cold and hard helped him to remain in the moment. However, this time Julian had to fight the fear that he’d have to leave Garak for good once he resigned. Maybe he could ask Garak to come to Earth with him?

“Now”, said Garak who had replicated Julian some tea and sat back down in front of Julian, “what does all this mean for you? For _us_?”

Julian shuddered before accepting the tea. “I’ll resign before it becomes a scandal”, he muttered, “I’ll explain it all to Captain Sisko. Maybe he will understand and keep it from becoming bigger than it needs to be. If I’m lucky, I won’t have to go to prison. I…I might have to leave DS9, though.”

“ _Oh_.” Garak looked down at his knees. There was no more of the usual lilt to his voice; Garak simply sounded sad and exhausted. It was the sound of a defeated man. No more games or riddles – Garak was done with those if Julian were to leave.

“I know it was just a joke when you said it yesterday”, Julian said desperately, “but would you really employ me at your shop? I don’t want to leave, Garak. I don’t want to go somewhere else, to not have your company any longer. DS9 is my _home_. I – I don’t actually have experience in mending clothes, but I think I can learn. I’ve done enough field medicine to know how to sew a wound. Seams can’t be that much harder.”

Garak laughed. “You do surprise me, dear doctor. You may have taken it as a joke – it might have been, at the time – but I did mean it. If Captain Sisko lets me, I will employ you at my shop.”

Julian felt himself blushing. Sarcasm and jokes weren’t his strongest suit. He ended up, more often than he wanted to admit, taking someone’s words too literally. Garak, who was the master of lies and deception and never told Julian when he wasn’t actually telling the truth, still managed to catch Julian by surprise when he did tell Julian the truth.

“I’ll make sure to ask the captain about that tomorrow”, Julian breathed. He had finished drinking the tea and placed the cup on the ground. Hopefully, they would remember the cup later and put it in the replicator.

“Pray tell me”, Garak began, “what will happen if the captain does not let you stay?”

Rubbing his eyes, Julian sighed. “I’ll probably return to Earth. Find some job that’ll have me even though I’m an augment. It won’t be the same, though. I’ll miss DS9 if I must go.”

“I could come with you.”

Julian’s eyes widened. He tried to look for any sign of deception in Garak’s eyes but couldn’t find any. Was it the truth or was it just Julian’s inability to tell the truth from a lie? Or perhaps Garak’s superior abilities at deceiving people? It was ironic that Julian still rather looked for lies in Garak’s words than believed the truth.

“But what about the shop?” Julian asked, now feeling a lump in his throat. The past few days had been stressful for him, to say the least. “What would you do with your life?”

“Oh, I’d probably start a new business”, Garak said airily, “I’d like to try my hands at building furniture, or perhaps boats. We could start building wooden boats. _Bashir and Garak – the best boats in Bangkok_ , or something like that!”

Julian laughed, sniffling. There was something in his eyes, so he looked down at his lap. “That’s a decent attempt, Garak”, he breathed, “but there isn’t much beach in Bangkok. Most of the city is inland.”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be Bangkok”, Garak decided, “I just thought it sounded fun with the name. We can work on that.”

Julian felt happy – or maybe ‘elated’ was a better word – at the thought, but there was this familiar, nagging sensation that something was off. Maybe it was the warmth; Cardassians often had the environmental controls on a higher temperature thanks to their own body temperature. Julian’s new uniform also felt a little uncomfortable – it was designed to stay in form and that form simply wasn’t Julian’s.

Julian didn’t handle change well and the prospect of his life changing right after the uniform wasn’t sitting well with him. He pulled at his collar and then, without thinking, unzipped the coat. He discarded it on the floor, trying to forget the claustrophobic feeling it had given him.

“Doctor”, Garak asked quietly, “is something the matter?”

Julian shook his head. “I’m fine”, he insisted, “I just…I’m not too good with sudden changes, you know. The new uniform – it doesn’t feel good. And today has been…too many emotions. Too much feeling. It’s making me feel rather prickly.”

Frowning, Garak picked up the coat Julian had discarded. “I’m not too sure I understand what you mean. Would it make you feel better if I lowered the temperature a little bit? You humans enjoy it much colder here, I’ve noticed.”

Julian nodded. He was still pulling at his collar, as if it could make him feel magically better. Garak noticed this and unzipped Julian’s green undershirt just enough to reveal his neck. Smiling, he patted Julian’s shoulder before calling for the computer to reduce the temperature by ten degrees.

“You should feel better soon, doctor”, Garak said softly as he placed Julian’s coat on the backrest of his sofa.

“Thanks”, Julian breathed, “I don’t know what came over me.”

“I am no healer”, Garak said, “but it seemed like a bout of anxiety. Kind of like the ones I had at the internment camp. It is nothing to be ashamed of, dear doctor. You’re safe here with me.”

Julian nodded. He felt weak, so terribly weak. It was like all his strength had been strained off him, leaving behind only the terrible soreness of exhaustion. Garak must have noticed this since he sat back down before Julian and cupped his cheek.

“You should stay the night”, Garak whispered, “you look like you need the company. Let me replicate you a toothbrush and some nightwear. The bed is large enough for two.”

Were he not so exhausted, Julian would have been terribly flustered by Garak’s suggestion. But he was tired beyond measure, and admittedly rather touch-starved as well. He definitely wouldn’t mind the company, not after the trials he’d gone through with his family.

“Thanks”, Julian whispered, “I appreciate this. I really do; it’s just difficult to show it right now.”

“I completely understand, Julian”, Garak replied, smiling gently. Hearing his name made Julian feel warmth inside his chest. “Now, are you a friend of the human activity known as ‘cuddles’? I’ve been dying to try it out.”

Chuckling, Julian nodded. He definitely wouldn’t mind cuddles.

**Author's Note:**

> By commenting, you add to my inspiration to write!


End file.
